East Knox 35, Northridge 34
JOHNSTOWN — When a game goes back and forth like the East Knox-Northridge game did Friday, it’s a shame to have a missed extra point be the difference. The Vikings’ Brandon Hull made four extra-points in the game before missing his final one with 58 seconds to play, and East Knox survived 35-34.
Defense was nearly nonexistent, as Northridge (2-4, 2-1) gained 480 yards in a losing cause to the Bulldogs’ 400 yards. The Vikings had two runners with 125 or more yards, Tony Stanley with 21 carries for 157 yards and Kolt McDaniel 19 rushes for 125 yards. There was only one punt in the game, and the teams combined for 40 first downs. Also a rarity, neither team had successive scores; each East Knox touchdown was met by one for Northridge.
The Bulldogs (2-4, 2-1) got on the board first on Dakota Anderson’s 16-yard TD catch from Tyler Clement with 7:30 to play in the first quarter. Tyler Berger, who made all five of his extra points, made it 7-0. The Vikings scored on its next drive, as McDaniel ran off a 60-yard touchdown with 6:27 to play to tie the score at 7. Devin Wears scored for East Knox less than two minutes later on a 3-yard run to put his team up, 14-7.
Hull punched in from 1-yard out with 3:46 left in the half to tie the game at 14, but Colton Tucker had a 3-yard TD run at the 1:47 mark to put the Bulldogs in the lead at halftime, 21-14.
Stanley knotted the score once more for Northridge on his 5-yard run with 4:07 to play in the third quarter, but Clement ran a 32-yard quarterback keeper for a 28-21 lead with 2:01 left. On the first play of the fourth quarter, Jobie Warner found Josh Harbaugh for a 24-yard touchdown pass, and the score was tied again. East Knox’s next drive took them to the 7:50 mark, when Tucker scored his second touchdown on a 3-yarder to put the Bulldogs up, 35-28. The Vikings took their time on their final drive, and Warner finished its with a 1-yard TD run with 58 seconds to play. Hull’s kick went right. East Knox recovered the onside kick attempt, and made an important third-down conversion to ice the win.
Tucker ran 13 times for 95 yards, and Wears gained 92 yards on 10 carries. Clement completed 7-of-9 passes for 146 yards, and Anderson snared four passes for 77 yards.
East Knox will host Fredericktown on Friday.
Clear Fork 35, Wooster 14
BELLVILLE — Another standout defensive effort combined with a huge offensive night to give Clear Fork a 35-14 win over Wooster on Friday.
The Colts gained 572 total yards, 371 on the ground and 201 through the air. They held the Generals to 41 yards on 20 carries, although Clear Fork gave up 162 aerial yards.
Jordan McCune scored the first of his three touchdowns in the first quarter, scoring on a 65-yarder with 10:46 to play for a 7-0 lead. Wooster worked a 7-7 tie to Duke Price’s 24-yard catch from Bryan Gallo-Malta with 8:55 left in the second quarter, but McCune put the Colts up 14-7 at halftime with a 7-yard TD run with 3:52 left.
Eric Kline increased Clear Fork’s lead to 21-7 with a 41-yard run on the Colts’ first drive of the third quarter. The Colts amassed yards better than they did points, finally scoring again with 4:48 to play in the fourth quarter on Jake Dickerson’s 22-yard toss from Justin Hissong. McCune finished his day with a 5-yard TD run with 2:23 to play for a 35-7 lead. A 50-yard touchdown from Jake Miller to Stu Turner with 53 second left made the score closer than it really was.
McCune finished with 178 yards and three touchdowns on 16 carries, and Hissong completed 9-of-15 passes for 201 yards and two TDs. Dickerson caught four passes for 97 yards.
